1925-P VAM-1O

Description

Discovered by Eric Justice in June 2006, the 1925-P VAM-1O Peace Dollar is classified as II 1 · B2a (Close Double Clash Spikes Eagle's Shoulder) with an impact rating of I-2 and a rarity of R-5. The reverse (B2a) exhibits the variety's defining feature: faint, short, closely spaced double clash spikes rising upward from the eagle's right shoulder, transferred from the back of Liberty's head and neck on the obverse during a close double clash event. A double clash occurs when two separate clashing impacts happen in rapid succession at nearly the same die alignment, producing paired sets of transferred impressions that appear as closely spaced spikes or lines rather than a single clash transfer. The "close" designation indicates the two clash events occurred with minimal angular difference between them, producing spike pairs that are tightly grouped rather than widely separated. Community commentary notes that the eagle's head and adjacent area show moderate pitting — surface deterioration visible even in the catalog plate photograph — but that Leroy Van Allen apparently deemed it too minor to warrant separate listing in the formal variety description. Anthony de Francisci designed the Peace Dollar with its radiant Liberty head obverse and eagle-on-rock reverse, struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1925 in 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The 1925-P had a substantial mintage of approximately 10.2 million pieces. The R-5 rarity rating indicates moderate scarcity, with the close double clash spikes requiring careful reverse examination under angled lighting to distinguish from normal die flow or deterioration marks near the eagle's shoulder area.

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